Now, cocktails with applejack or apple brandy are showing up increasingly on cocktail menus. Laird's was the only horse in this game for years and years, but in the '80s and '90s, places like Clear Creek Distillery and Germain-Robin joined the fray. ![]() That's nearly extinct in the present, but the mutated version (and its straight-up apple brandy siblings) are enjoying a new renaissance. Yet the applejack from way back when was actually freeze-distilled cider. ![]() It's understandable why they'd think that - that's exactly what Laird's applejack is, and Laird's is probably the biggest name in American apple brandies. When people hear "apple brandy" today, they tend to think of applejack, a blend of apple brandy and other liquors. Although, the term could use some clarification. Flickr/Tim SacktonĪpple brandy is another booze that our forefathers imbibed regularly that only recently got hip again. Nowadays, you're much more likely to find one of these guys (or an import like Strongbow) in your local liquor store, and the rise of cider has only boosted its apple-based brethren. It was during this boom that Angry Orchard launched nationally with its three flagship ciders, Woodchuck moved its first million cases, and the entire category starting driving the supply into the ground. Between 20, American cider companies increased production 264%. That initial interest exploded in the aughts. "People are now always looking to try something new and different and we benefited." "A mature palate has developed in the states over the last couple years, and we can thank the craft beer pioneers for that," Burk says. Some imports started trickling into the US in the '90s, and Angry Orchard head cider maker Ryan Burk thinks you should credit craft beer with that. As anyone who studied abroad in London in the last 20 years can attest, you'll find several ciders on tap (or at least bottled) in almost any pub in town. One nation that didn't tire of cider? The UK. But America lost interest in the drink sometime in the 1800s, long before Prohibition set all booze categories back a few decades. ![]() The founding fathers loved it and rich boy poser William Henry Harrison even created an everyman campaign around it. Hard cider goes all the way back to colonial times. The apple hooch trend has a lot of interesting threads, but let's start with the trendiest one: cider. So what's happening? Have we all just had it with cinnamon-flavored liquor? Is it a secret marketing push by the apple farmers of America? Not quite. You've probably seen approximately 88 commercials for Redd's Apple ale by this point, and have enjoyed a cocktail with applejack prepared by a mustachioed mixologist. On the gin side, there's Seagram's Apple Twisted gin and Half Moon Orchard gin. On the rum side, there's Bacardi Big Apple. On the whiskey side, there's Serpent's Bite, Jim Beam Apple, and Crown Royal apple-flavored whiskey. Previously only a seasonal addition for bartenders with a bottle of apple schnapps, apple-flavored alcohol has been growing at an alarming rate in the last decade. One thing that's not going away, though, is apple booze. Pumpkin beers are already being swapped for winter warmers, and pretty soon, all hayrides (haunted or otherwise) will come screeching to a halt. ![]() Much to the chagrin of basic boys and girls across the nation, fall is coming to a close.
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